Submarine boat.



PATBNTED APR; 21, 1903-.

s. LAKE. SUBMARINE BOAT. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 18, 1902.

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UNITED STATES,

PATENT OFFICE.

SIMON LAKE, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT.

SUBMARINE BOAT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 726,227, dated April. 21, 19053.

Original application filed May 28, 1901, Serial No. 62,207. Divided and this application filed November 18, 1902. Serial No. 131,851. (No modela) To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, SIMON LAKE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Submarine Boats, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This application is a division of my pending.

application, Serial No. 62,207, filed May 28, 1901.

The present invention relates to an improvement in that class of submarine boats having a pressure-resisting hull proper containing the living quarters, the engine-room, and other compartments common to all boats of this general character and having a superstructure coveringits upper portion for affording ampledeck-room and surface stability and provided with means wherebyit may be filled with water for submergence in order not only to reduce the buoyancy of the entire vessel, but to relieve the tendency to collapse imposed by the great external pressures under conditions of submergence, all as set forth and described in the United States Patent No. 650,758, granted to me May 29, 1900; and the invention is directed more particularly to a means of filling and emptying the superstructure without materially affecting the fore-and-aft stability.

The improvement consists, essentially, in forming the superstructure with a deck which is slightly arched toward a point amidships from both the sides and ends and in providing a valved vent-pipe leading from the highest portion of the superstructure so formed for the outflow and inflow of air displaced by and replacing the water introduced into and discharged from the same when varying the buoyancy to establish submerged and surface conditions, respectively.

It further includes the location of the valve in said vent-pipe in such position that it may be readily manipulated at any time by the helmsman or other occupant of the conningtower or turret.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation with a portion of the conningtower and the adjacent part of the superstructure in section, representing a submarine torpedo-boat embodying myinvention; and Fig. 2 is an enlarged transverse sectional view showing the means for manipulating the wa ter-ballast in both hull and superstructure. Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view of the air-tube connection.

The hull a. is shown of the usual circular cross-section adapted to resist the high external pressures to which it is subjected under submergence, divided horizontally by a floor or partition I), carrying the operative parts of the vessel, and beneath which are disposed the water-ballast tanks, access being had to the interior of the hull through hatches 0, opening upon the deck is.

Surmounting the hull and preferably arranged directly over its center of buoyancy is the conning-tower or turret d, containing the steering-wheel e and other devices for controlling either directly or indirectly the operation o-fthe boat and having at the top an inspection-dome or observation-chamber adapted to receive the head of a lookout'stationed in the conning-tower.

The hull is shown provided with a superstructure composed of the vertical sides j, rising tangentially from the outer portions of the circular hull, and the deck k, which joins the sides along their edges throughout the length of the boat and is slightly arched, both athwartships and fore and aft, toward the conning-tower or turret, which rises from the hull at its highest portion. The boat is provided with means whereby water may be admitted between this superstructure and the upper side of the hull and for expelling the water therefrom, apparatus therefor being specifically described hereinafter. The contained air displaced by and replacing the water thus admitted and expelled passes out and in through the vent-pipe Z within the conningtower, connecting the highest portion-of the superstructure with the exterior of the same, and provided with a valve m, bywhich such passage is controlled.

The means for controlling the contents of the superstructure, as shown herein, consist of a system of water-pipes at, having branches ITO 0 and p, connected with the exterior of the nected with the interior of the superstructure, a pump rand valves sbeing interposed in said system, by means of which and various other branch pipes connected with the water-ballast compartments If water may be introduced into and drawn from the individual parts of the boat designed to regulate its condition as to buoyancy. As an additional means of emptying the superstructure of water one of the compressed-air-supply tanks u inclosed therein is connected with its interior by means of a pipe t, passing through the interior of the hull, where it is provided with a valve 10 for controlling the supply of compressed air from said tank to admitted to the superstructure, the water-pipe ac extending from the bottom of the latter and discharging from the top of the same and provided with the normally open inwardly-closing check-valve 11 conducting the water outward from the superstructure under the pressure of the air admitted from said airsupply tank.

For convenience in designating the several parts of the structure of the boat I have herein employed the term hull to denote the lower portion of circular cross-section built to resist high external water-pressu res, which submarine vessels of all descriptions are required to withstand, while the term superstructure is applied to that part of the structure'above the hull proper, which is merely an auxiliary to the latter and while serving the various functions above described is not designed or required to resist the external water-pressure when the vessel is submerged.

Having thus set forth the invention, What I claim herein isl. The combination with the hull of a submarine boat, of a normally closed superstructure covering the upper portion of the same, means for admitting water to said superstructure, a discharge-pipe extending from the bottom of said superstructure to the top of the same, and provided with a normally open inwardly-closingcheck-valve, and means for admitting air under pressure to said superstructure to expel the water through said discharge-pipe.

2. The combination with the hull of a submarine boat, of a normally closed superstructure covering the upper portion of the same of which the deck is higher along the center than at the edges, means for admitting water to said superstructure, and an air-pipe lead ing outwardly from the higher portion of said superstructure.

3. The combination with the hull of a submarine boat, of a normally closed superstructure covering the upper portion of the same of which the deck is slightly inclined inwardly and upwardly from the edges, means for admitting water to said superstructure, and a valved air-pipeleading outwardly from the interior of said superstructure at its highest point.

4. The combination with the hull of a submarine boat, and a conning-tower rising from the center thereof amidship, of a normally closed superstructure covering the upper portion of said hull of which the deck is slightly inclined inwardly and upwardly toward said conning-tower from the edges, means for admitting water to said superstructure, and a valved air-pipe within said conning-tower and leading from the top of the adjacent portion of the superstructure to the exterior of the same.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

SIMON LAKE.

\Vitnesses:

L. B. MILLER, II. J. MILLER. 

